133Yo, so I realized I should probably actually say what happened to this story, since not everyone checks my profile. Figured I should actually give an update here. I'll explain all of the issues that have existed since this story, along with why I stopped. Buckle up, because this is going to be a long one.
So, where do we begin?
The first problem with this story is that I did not plan it out very far. At the time of writing Chapter 1, I only had the following basic idea:
Intro Arc - Some Custom Arc - Sisters Arc.
That's really it. After Sisters, I had no idea what the plan was. Of course, my plan was to develop it as it went along. That's not entirely a bad thing, but what really made it difficult is that I had no idea where it would end. And frankly, considering Izuku's existence, the butterfly effect might have affected the story so much so that I would have left canon territory entirely. That's not a bad thing, but again, I had no idea where the story would end. I had no idea where it would end up. That made writing this pretty difficult.
The second problem is the timeline. I plopped Izuku into Academy City at the very end of the Index Arc. While its certainly not a bad place (I'll explain some cool ideas I had later on), its very difficult for Izuku to make any meaningful canon changes at first. Once again, not entirely a bad thing, as long as it all makes sense. This goes back to the first problem, which is that I didn't plan it beyond Sisters. Of course, I could have sat back and actually planned it all out, but I couldn't. I was already 9 chapters in.
This leads into the third problem: I did not read New Testament at the time I started this story. That is probably the biggest mistake I made. I have the opinion that, unless its not meant to be a long or serious story, the author needs to have watched or read the whole thing (or, at least have a pretty good idea what happens). I did not. When I started this, I only watched the Index anime. I hadn't even watched Railgun! Thus, I have a really difficult time looking back at my previous chapters. I'm sure I didn't butcher anything too badly, but it still bothers me a lot.
The fourth problem is Izuku's character. Its the most minor one by far, but I still feel like I screwed up his character. I don't really know what else to say about it.
The fifth problem is my method of teleporting him here. I don't like it. That's all I'll say.
That's why I will likely never touch this current form of ACOFA again. That doesn't exactly mean ACOFA is dead entirely, however. Several months ago, I attempted to do a rewrite of ACOFA. It would have been drastically different than this one. However, my motivation to do that came and went very quickly. So, right now, that's probably not happening.
If I did move ahead with the rewrite, I'd have these questions to answer.
One: Should Izuku return to the MHA World?
In ACOFA, I said "yes". How and when and why? I had no idea. That was something I didn't know. In a rewrite, that's a question I'd have to think about. If I did say "yes" again, well read the next question.
Two: Where in the MHA timeline do you take Izuku?
In ACOFA, I went ahead with "After Cultural Festival, Before Pro Hero Arc." Though, I suppose after Pro Hero Arc wouldn't change much. Anyways, considering where the manga was at that point, I think that was the best choice. In a rewrite though, I probably wouldn't do that. If I did say that Izuku should return to MHA, that has a lot of options, depending on what I wanted to do. I could do the same place, or I could do after 1A vs 1B, or I could do after Endeavor Agency, or I could do after War arc, or- yeah, you get the point.
However, what if I said "no" to question one? Well, the only possible satisfying place would be after the end of MHA (Some minor MHA spoilers ahead). It would be cruel otherwise for Izuku to have no say in what happens back in his own world. The only issue is, while ACOFA has Izuku undergoing his own training arc (I'll elaborate later), if I went with this route, Izuku would easily be Level 5 material from the start. He'd still lose to Accelerator (and maybe Kakine, I confess that I glossed over much of NT5 and NT6 and his parts in the anime, so I have very little idea what his feats are), but there's little others he'd lose against on the science side (Oh, can't forget Gunha. I'd say they are fairly evenly matched). The magic side is a different story that I will not get into right now.
Anyways, my point is that end of MHA Izuku would have a very different arc in Academy City compared to anything before the ending. And the character development Izuku undergoes is heavily reliant on where he's taken from. I'd have to really think about it.
Three: Where in the Toaru timeline does Izuku appear in?
This is a tough question. The answer depends on how "grand" I want to make a rewrite. For example, the original ACOFA was designed to be a very big story. I love reading these kinds of stories. I wanted to show how a simple character's existence in Toaru can completely change the fate of so many characters. Start out with small changes in canon, then those changes compound on each other and results in something completely different at the end. Unfortunately, one would need to put in a lot of effort to make it work. And considering how slow I already update my other stories, there's no way I could do it. I'd have to focus a lot on this story, leaving my other stories to rot.
By starting at the end of the Index Arc, I gave myself a lot of opportunity to make changes to canon. But I didn't plan it out. And I lost motivation after I updated Chapter 9. It really sucks, but that's just how it is.
If I did do a rewrite, I'm not sure where I would do it. Options include: End of Index Arc, After OT5, Right before Daihasei Festival, Right before Academy City Invasion, or Before/During WW3. If I wanted to be bold, I could also do it after NT11. I'm not the biggest fan of where canon went after NT11 (NT18 onwards is cool though), so I'd probably make some really big changes if I went that route. The place in the timeline would depend heavily on what kind of story arc I want to tell.
Four: Who are the important characters to the story?
Obviously Izuku, but who in Toaru would be relevant? I didn't really have many plans for the characters, other than that Touma was going to be a big part at some point. I've never been a fan of stories who decide to make Touma a minor character, crossover or otherwise. So, in any itertion of ACOFA, Touma would become a major character at some point.
Beyond Touma? I have no clue. Maybe the railgang? Accelerator? Who knows?
Ok, now I'm going to explain the little I did have planned beyond Chapter 9.
For one, Izuku would have been involved quite heavily (ish) in Sisters. The idea was that he would have come across an experiment and try to save the clone fighting. After trying attacks on Accelerator, Izuku realizes its futile to fight any longer. With no other choice, he picks up the clone and runs away. I'm not entirely sure whether Accelerator would have followed, but I don't think so? The higher ups in the city would be concerned, but would continue with the experiment with the other clones. They would deal with the missing one.
Izuku would be injured heavily and he would go to Heaven Canceller with the clone. He'd be knocked out. The sisters experiment ends like in canon with Touma taking action.
Yeah, that's all I got. Accelerator would have eventually moved into Yomikawa's apartment at the same time in canon, see Izuku, things happen, they now tolerate each other. So, there's all I had planned.
I think that's all I really wanted to say. Sorry about not updating. If I ever do actually do the rewrite, I'll likely post it as a new story (And I'll make an update here). Check my profile for any updates on that!
Alright, see you all later.